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Skizzik
}} Skizzik is a familiar appearing in The Fiery Moon, the sixth part of Heroes Chronicles. He travels with Tarnum as he attempts to stop Vorr. Skizzik was one of the demons serving Vorr, responsible for bringing water to the Ancestors, who were Vorr's prisoners on the Fiery Moon. One day, Skizzik accidentally left their door open long enough for them to contact Tarnum and warn him to protect the World Tree, the source of all life. Vorr, who had gone insane after taking on the aspect of a war god from Krewlod, wanted to destroy the Tree, but Tarnum managed to stop him. When Tarnum followed Vorr to stop him and free the Ancestors, his men found Skizzik lurking in the bushes outside camp. He was missing both wings and one ear, his arm was broken, and he looked so weak and bloody that Tarnum feared the familiar would not survive. When he recovered from his wounds, Skizzik told Tarnum about his mistake with the door, and that the other demons had tried to kill him for it. Skizzik fled through the Sparkling Bridge, a magical portal that could take you anywhere in the universe, and found Tarnum's camp. Skizzik claimed that he was dead, and thus no longer one of Vorr's servants: Grumba, the ogre who was Tarnum's second-in-command, suspected Skizzik of being a spy, as did Wern, his wisest shaman. Tarnum didn't share their suspicion, but was wary enough not to trust Skizzik with any vital information, and told his guards to kill him if he tried to escape. Tarnum decided to use the Sparkling Bridge to travel to the Fiery Moon, and tried to use Skizzik as a guide to find it. Unfortunately, Skizzik had either been delirious when passing through the region or had a bad memory, as he kept getting them lost, and Tarnum had to keep him nearby to make sure Grumba didn't kill the familiar. But one day, while they were battling the elementals who were guarding the Sparkling Bridge, Tarnum fell to the ground with a sharp pain in his stomach as if he had been stabbed - a memory of the wound that killed him. He would have died in the battle if Skizzik hadn't jumped on the back of the air elemental that was about to attack him, sinking his teeth into the creature's neck and distracting it long enough for Grumba to step in. Tarnum thanked Skizzik for saving his life, telling him he would always have a place amongst Tarnum's barbarians. Skizzik told him that a familiar and a barbarian could never be friends, but since Skizzik was already "dead", he declared that he was now a barbarian. He started to carry a hatchet as if it was a battleaxe, and wore a wool loincloth and a helmet adorned with ridicously large ram's horns, despite the fact that they were high in the snow-covered mountains. Tarnum told Skizzik that even he dressed warmly, but Skizzik just laughed. "That 'cause me tougher than you!" When they encountered a group of fire elementals, Skizzik would finally get a chance to try his hatchet on an enemy instead of on every tree and bush along the trail, but the familiar ran forward with his eyes closed, accidentally hitting one of Tarnum's orcs in the knee, before one of the elementals burned the hatchet from his hand. Tarnum saved him, and then asked his armorer to forge him a better axe, saying that if Skizzik was going to be a barbarian, he should at least have a decent weapon. When they stepped through the portal and reached the Fiery Moon, Skizzik found the place where he used to live, and wiped a tear from his eye as the memories came. Grumba told him that it didn't look like much, and Skizzik glared at the ogre with his hands on his hips, despite the fact that the ogre was easily five times his size. Skizzik told him: Tarnum stepped forward, afraid that the ogre might squash him, but the ogre just seemed startled and amused at the familiar would dare to stand up to him. One day, while out gathering firewood, Skizzik fell into a hole and ended up in an old tomb, with the skeletal remains of ancient warriors. Tarnum wondered who they were - they didn't look like demons - and Skizzik told him they were the ones who lived on the Fiery Moon before the demons arrived. Skizzik was nervous, as if he was afraid of ghosts. Tarnum managed to free the Ancestors, but when he marched against Vorr, the Mad Ancestor was more powerful than they had expected, and he murdered most of Tarnum's army. Wern and Grumba were slain, and Skizzik was missing - many had been so badly burned by Vorr's magic that there wasn't enough left to identify. Tarnum continued his war against Vorr, but the Ancestors urged him to capture Vorr alive, as both their lives and Tarnum's depended on Vorr's survival - all the Ancestors were connected. One day, Tarnum saw Skizzik marching at the head of a small force with his hatchet over one shoulder. Skizzik explained that he had thought Tarnum was dead, and had decided to defeat Vorr on his own. He joined his army with Tarnum's, and also told him of a nearby valley filled with troops that would probably join Tarnum when they saw how strong he was. Tarnum met with the familiar every night as if he was his second-in-command, as most of Tarnum's officers had perished in the fight against Vorr. Skizzik told Tarnum that they should kill Vorr - "That's what we Barbarians do best!" - but Tarnum hoped that the barbarian people could be better than that. Tarnum managed to defeat the Mad Ancestor, and when Vorr lay dying on the battlefield, Tarnum chose to give him the sap from the World Tree, which cured his wounds and his madness. It's not known what happened to Skizzik after this. Category:The Fiery Moon characters